Promotion of a green economy with the palm oil industry for biodiversity conservation: A touchstone toward a sustainable bioindustry.

Palm oil is a representative and important biomass, not only as the most edible vegetable oil consumed worldwide, but also as a material for chemicals and biofuels. Despite the potential sustainability of the palm oil industry, it has conventionally emitted excess greenhouse gases, waste materials, and wastewater, brought land use change, thus affecting the natural environment. Therefore, the successful development of a sustainable palm oil industry is a touchstone for promoting the bioeconomy.

Tropical forest dung beetle-mammal dung interaction networks remain similar across an environmental disturbance gradient.

Conservation outcomes could be greatly enhanced if strategies addressing anthropogenic land-use change considered the impacts of these changes on entire communities as well as on individual species. Examining how species interactions change across gradients of habitat disturbance allows us to predict the cascading consequences of species extinctions and the response of ecological networks to environmental change. We conducted the first detailed study of changes in a commensalist network of mammals and dung beetles across an environmental disturbance gradient, from primary tropical forest to plantations, which varied in above-ground carbon density (ACD) and mammal communities.

Key Roles of Dipterocarpaceae, Bark Type Diversity and Tree Size in Lowland Rainforests of Northeast Borneo-Using Functional Traits of Lichens to Distinguish Plots of Old Growth and Regenerating Logged Forests.

Many lowland rainforests in Southeast Asia are severely altered by selective logging and there is a need for rapid assessment methods to identify characteristic communities of old growth forests and to monitor restoration success in regenerating forests. We have studied the effect of logging on the diversity and composition of lichen communities on trunks of trees in lowland rainforests of northeast Borneo dominated by Dipterocarpaceae. Using data from field observations and vouchers collected from plots in disturbed and undisturbed forests, we compared a taxonomy-based and a taxon-free method.

Antiparasitic Potential of Chromatographic Fractions of and Liquid Chromatography-Quadrupole Time-of-Flight-Mass Spectrometry Analysis.

Marine aquaculture development is recently impeded by parasitic leech (Hirudinea, Piscicolidae) in Sabah, Malaysia. The parasitic leech infests a variety of cultured fishes in aquaculture facilities. In this study, we evaluated the antiparasitic activity of the chromatographic fractions of the medicinal plant methanol extract against and highlighted the potential metabolites responsible for the antiparasitic properties through liquid chromatography (LC)-quadrupole time-of-flight (QTOF)-mass spectrometry (MS) analysis.

Terpenoids from Marine Soft Coral of the Genus in 1977 to 2019.

Members of the marine soft coral genus are rich in a diversity of diterpenes. A total of 199 terpenes consisting of 14 sesquiterpenes, 180 diterpenes, and 5 steroids have been reported to date. Xenicane diterpenes were reported to be the most common chemical skeleton biosynthesized by members of this genus.

Bioactivities of Lyngbyabellins from Cyanobacteria of and Genera.

Cyanobacteria are reported as rich sources of secondary metabolites that provide biological activities such as enzyme inhibition and cytotoxicity. Ten depsipeptide derivatives (lyngbyabellins) were isolated from a Malaysian and a Red Sea sp.: lyngbyabellins G (), O (), P (), H (), A (), 27-deoxylyngbyabellin A (), and homohydroxydolabellin ().

Two cytotoxic squalene-derived polyethers from the Japanese red alga .

The red alga is known to produce and contain a rich diversity of secondary metabolites, such as domoic acid-related alkaloids and triterpene polyethers. Our investigation on red alga from Kagoshima coast, Japan, resulted in the isolation of two new triterpene polyethers, bandokorols A () and B (). The structures of these compounds were determined based on spectroscopic data such as infrared (FTIR), H-NMR, APT, H-H-COSY, HSQC, HMBC, NOESY and FAB mass spectrometry (HRFABMS).

Biosurfactants from Marine Cyanobacteria Collected in Sabah, Malaysia.

Chemical investigation of the organic extract from , collected in Sabah, Malaysia, led to the isolation of three new chlorinated fatty acid amides, columbamides F (), G (), and H (). The planar structures of - were established by a combination of mass spectrometric and NMR spectroscopic analyses. The absolute configuration of was determined by Marfey's analysis of its hydrolysate and chiral-phase HPLC analysis after conversion and esterification with Ohrui's acid, (1,2)-2-(anthracene-2,3-dicarboximido)cyclohexanecarboxylic acid.

Twenty-six new species of (Lepidoptera, Crambidae) from South-East Asia revealed by morphology and DNA barcoding.

Meyrick (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) is a fern-feeding genus found in montane areas of South-East Asia and Melanesia, eastwards up to the Samoan Islands. It includes sixteen described species, with at least 70 further undescribed species known from scientific collections. An iterative approach including morphological and molecular characters was used in order to explore the diversity of .

A New Epi-neoverrucosane-type Diterpenoid from the Liverwort Pleurozia subinflata in Borneo.

New bioactive 13-epi-neoverrucosane diterpenoid, 5β-acetoxy-13-epi-neoverrucosanic acid (1) along with three known secondary metabolites, 13-epi-neoverrucosan-5β-ol (2), chelodane (3) and (E)-β-farnesene (4) were isolated from the MeOH extract of east Malaysia's liverwort Pleurozia subinflata. The chemical structure of new compound was elucidated by the analyses of its spectroscopic data (FTIR, NMR and HR-ESI-MS). These epi-neoverrucosane-type compounds seem to be notable chemosystematic markers for P.

New dataset of foliicolous lichens on leaves of five major species of Dipterocarpaceae in INIKEA forest rehabilitation plot of Borneo.

Rehabilitation of degraded forest is being intensified in Borneo, effort by the INIKEA Rehabilitation Project in Luasong (Sabah) has resulted in healthy growth of native timber species to Borneo. Slow growth rate of Dipterocarps has been attributed to presence of biofoulers on its leaves and herbivory. Therefore, an investigation was conducted to document the coverage and distribution of foliicolous lichens on the leaves of five common timber species , , , and , planted during this project in 2008.

A regional study of the genus (Ramalinaceae) in Asia and Melanesia.

is a crustose to squamulose lichen genus inhabiting the bark of trees in moist tropical forests and rainforests. Species identification is generally challenging and is mainly based on ascospore morphology, thallus morphology and anatomy, vegetative dispersal units, and on secondary chemistry. While regional treatments of the genus have been conducted for Africa, South America and Australia, there exists no study focusing on the Asian and Melanesian species.

Two new epimers of C-acetogenin, 4--isolaurallene and 4--itomanallene A as diastereomeric model.

Two new C-acetogenins, 4--isolaurallene () and 4--itomanallene A () were isolated from a population of marine red alga Masuda from Carrington Reef. The structures of these compounds were determined intensively by NMR and HRESIMS data. Their configurations were elucidated by detailed comparison of chemical shifts, germinal protons splitting and NOE correlations with known and synthesized analogues.

Three new species of (Ramalinaceae, lichenised Ascomycota) from the Paleotropics.

Kistenich & Timdal, Kistenich & Timdal and Kistenich & Timdal are described as new species, the first from Borneo and the two latter from New Caledonia. The new species are supported by morphology, secondary chemistry and DNA sequence data. and contain sekikaic and homosekikaic acid, both compounds reported here for the first time from the genus.

Global dung webs: high trophic generalism of dung beetles along the latitudinal diversity gradient.

At the global scale, species diversity is known to strongly increase towards the equator for most taxa. According to theory, a higher resource specificity of consumers facilitates the coexistence of a larger number of species and has been suggested as an explanation for the latitudinal diversity gradient. However, only few studies support the predicted increase in specialisation or even showed opposite results.

New cembrane-type diterpenoids from Bornean soft coral sp. with antifungal activity against .

Three new cembrane diterpenes, nephthecrassocolides A-B (-) and 6-acetoxy nephthenol acetate () along with three known compounds, 6-acetoxy-7,8-epoxy nephthenol acetate (), epoxy nephthenol acetate () and nephthenol () were isolated from one population of sp. Their structures were elucidated based on spectroscopic data analysis and the antifungal activities of compounds - were evaluated.

In vitro Inhibitory Effects of Two Bornean Medicinal Wild Gingers against Pathogenic Lagenidium thermophilum Infected Mud Crab Scylla tranquebarica.

　The antifungal activity of two Bornean medicinal wild gingers Plagiostachys megacarpa and Zingiber phillippsiae were examined against Lagenidium thermophilum. The most active extract was P. megacarpa at concentration of 320 µg/mL inhibiting both hyphal growth and zoospore production of L.

Bioactive Cembranoids from the Soft Coral Genus Sinularia sp. in Borneo.

Soft corals are known to be prolific producers of a wide spectrum of biologically active cembranoids. One new cembranoid, sinularolide F (), along with three known compounds, cembranolide (), (,,)-6,10,14-trimethyl-3-methylene--3α,4,5,8,9,12,13,15α-octahydrocyclo tetradeca[β]furan-2()-one (), and denticulatolide (), were isolated from the Bornean soft coral sp. Compounds and showed potential anti-inflammatory activities against lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264.

Leucoxenols A and B, two new phenolics from Bornean medicinal plant Syzygium leucoxylon.

The medicinal plant, Syzygium leucoxylon or commonly known as Obah found in North Borneo was considered as traditional medicine by local committee. Two new phenolics, leucoxenols A (1) and B (2) were isolated and identified as major secondary metabolites from the leaves of S. leucoxylon.

Logging disturbance shifts net primary productivity and its allocation in Bornean tropical forests.

Tropical forests play a major role in the carbon cycle of the terrestrial biosphere. Recent field studies have provided detailed descriptions of the carbon cycle of mature tropical forests, but logged or secondary forests have received much less attention. Here, we report the first measures of total net primary productivity (NPP) and its allocation along a disturbance gradient from old-growth forests to moderately and heavily logged forests in Malaysian Borneo.

Nangallenes A and B, halogenated nonterpenoid C-acetogenins from the Bornean red alga Laurencia nangii.

Two new halogenated nonterpenoids C-acetogenins, nangallenes A-B (1-2), together with two known halogenated compounds itomanallene A (3) and 2,10-dibromo-3-chloro-α-chamigrene (4), were isolated and identified from the organic extract of the marine red alga Laurencia nangii Masuda collected from the coastal waters in Semporna, Borneo. Their structures were established by means of spectroscopic analysis including IR, high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HRESI-MS), and 1D and 2D NMR techniques. All these metabolites were submitted for the antifungal assay against four species of selected marine fungi.

12-Epi-9-deacetoxyxenicin, new cytotoxic diterpenoid from a Bornean soft coral, Xenia sp.

One new compound, 12-epi-9-deacetoxyxenicin (1) along with a hydroperoxide product, 12-epi-9-deacetoxy-8-hydroperoxyxenicin (2) and two known sesquiterpenoids (3-4) were isolated from a population of Bornean soft coral Xenia sp. The structures of these secondary metabolites were elucidated based on their spectroscopic data. Compounds 1 and 2 showed cytotoxic activity against ATL cell line, S1T.

Two new clerodane-type diterpenoids from Bornean liverwort Gottschelia schizopleura and their cytotoxic activity.

The Bornean liverwort Gottschelia schizopleura was investigated phytochemically for the first time. Two new and four previously known clerodane-type diterpenoids were isolated from the MeOH extract of G. schizopleura through a series of chromatographic techniques.

New anti-bacterial halogenated tricyclic sesquiterpenes from Bornean Laurencia majuscula (Harvey) Lucas.

Three new halogenated tricyclic sesquiterpenes, omphalaurediol (1), rhodolaurenones B (2) and C (3) were isolated together with nine known haloganated sesquiterpenes such as rhodolaurenone A (4), rhodolaureol (5), isorhodolaureol (6), (-)-laurencenone D (7), elatol (8), (+)-deschloroelatol (9), cartilagineol (10), (+)-laurencenone B (11) and 2-chloro-3-hydroxy-α-chamigren-9-one (12) from a population of Bornean red algae Laurencia majuscula. The structures of three new metabolites were determined based on their spectroscopic data (IR, 1D and 2D NMR, and MS). These compounds showed antibacterial activity against three human pathogenic bacteria (Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi and Vibrio cholera).

New Marine Antifouling Compounds from the Red Alga Laurencia sp.

Six new compounds, omaezol, intricatriol, hachijojimallenes A and B, debromoaplysinal, and 11,12-dihydro-3-hydroxyretinol have been isolated from four collections of sp. These structures were determined by MS and NMR analyses. Their antifouling activities were evaluated together with eight previously known compounds isolated from the same samples.